Suspended senator hopes to report on scandal for satirical magazine

OTTAWA — Suspended senator Patrick Brazeau is hoping to launch a new career as a journalist writing about the same people who voted him out of his job last month.

Brazeau, who was stripped of all Senate privileges but his title over his inappropriate spending, marched into the office of the Parliamentary Press Gallery Monday to apply for press credentials.

“This is about an exercise in trying to get to the heart of the matter, asking some very direct questions and hopefully getting answers to questions that many Canadians deserve,” Brazeau told a throng of reporters who had followed him.

“It’s not about me. It’s about telling Canadians the truth.”

Brazeau has been supported as a freelance reporter by Frank magazine, a satirical publication that loves government (and media) scandals.

In a post Monday, the magazine’s managing editor, Andrew Douglas, said Brazeau, who has no previous media experience, would prove a “pain in the arse” to sitting senators involved in the ongoing spending affair. Shortly after the announcement, Frank’s website surged in popularity, exceeded its bandwidth and crashed.

Brazeau was fuzzy on when he would start writing – “hopefully as soon as possible” — and on how he would get another media outlet to sponsor his bid for parliamentary accreditation, or how he would convince the press gallery to approve the application.

But he did know what he’d be covering: “Obviously a lot of my focus will be on the so-called Senate scandal.”

Brazeau was heckled by reporters, who wanted to know who he plans to invite to the Press Gallery dinner, how well he can spell and why he decided to cut his long hair.

He said his life has been difficult since he lost his job and discussed the book he is writing, which he said will be titled “Without Reservation.”

“The book is essentially a little bit about myself and the path that led me to where I am today and obviously talking about some inside information that I’m privy too and that I’ll be sharing,” he said.

He did not elaborate on what insider information he held.

But he shrugged off suggestions from reporters that he would become a laughingstock.